


i need you (like water)

by zedangos



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Growing Up Together, Kinda, M/M, Pining, tsukishima just really appreciates yamaguchi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-18 12:28:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21960622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zedangos/pseuds/zedangos
Summary: tsukishima kei thinks yamaguchi tadashi is amazing.
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 258
Collections: Haikyuu Secret Santa 2019





	i need you (like water)

Tsukishima Kei thinks Yamaguchi Tadashi is amazing. 

Kei knows that Yamaguchi feels that he is anything but. Yamaguchi’s on the verge of tears when the two first meet. He’s cowering below three other students, who lean over the small boy as they toss insults at him. Tsukishima can’t hear exactly what they’re saying, but it’s something like calling the boy pathetic. Rolling his eyes, he clicks his tongue loudly as his passes. This catches one boy's attention, as he turns to scowl at Kei. The others soon follow.

Kei stops, turning on his heel to face the first boy. He takes a step forward, towering over the boy as he gets closer. The boy takes a step back. “Lame,” he comments with a scowl before turning and continuing on his way. One of the other bullies tries to gather Kei’s attention, but a simple glare deters him.

Not that Kei cares, but he takes one last look at the picked-on boy. He looks a bit shaken up, but he appears to be fine. That’s good enough, Kei thinks, and he continues home without giving the exchange another thought.

The next day, he’s about to serve when he takes a glance towards the open gym doors. He takes a moment to recognize the person who's peeping in on their practice, but it’s none other than the small boy from the day prior. Curiosity getting the better of him, he walks over to the boy who looks up at him nervously. He thanks Kei for saving him from the bullies and tells Kei that he decided to check out volleyball because it appeared safer than other sports. Kei, in turn, tells the boy about Akiteru, his older brother and the ace of the Karasuno High School Boys Volleyball team.

Despite the boy’s timid and shy demeanor, he joins the volleyball club. He’s uncoordinated and awkward and he shies away from the ball. Kei laughs at first, but the boy is determined nonetheless. That’s how Tsukishima and Yamaguchi become friends, through volleyball.

Kei thinks he’s very different that Yamaguchi. They’re both reserved, but Yamaguchi is much more timid than Kei is. The smaller boy has a fragile heart, unlike Kei. He’s much more kind than Kei is. Still, Yamaguchi takes hold of Kei and doesn’t let go, and Kei finds that he doesn’t mind in the slightest.

When Yamaguchi tags along with Kei to go to one of Akiteru’s games, Kei knows that Yamaguchi’s watching his heart break. It feels like he can’t breathe and his like heart is being ripped out of his chest as he searches the court and his older brother isn’t there. It feels like he’s being crushed by the heavy realization that his brother, the person he looked up to most, had been lying to him for three years.

He wasn’t the ace. Akiteru hadn’t made his high school team.

Kei knows that Yamaguchi doesn’t know what to say to him, knows he’s inconsolable. So he says nothing. He quietly walks alongside Kei to the Tsukishima home.

When they reach Kei’s home, Kei says nothing. Yamaguchi, like usual, follows Kei inside. Kei’s mother greets them, and though Kei’s dismissive Yamaguchi greets her back with his normal smile and wave. Kei continues to his room silently and Yamaguchi follows unwaveringly, even shutting the door behind them. 

Kei sits on his bed, looking down at his hands. He can’t see Yamaguchi, but he knows that he’s giving Kei a pained expression. Kei scowls inwardly; Yamaguchi feels bad for him. Kei doesn’t want his pity.   
The bed shifts next to Kei as Yamaguchi sits. He reaches over to touch Kei, and Kei flinches away. A couple seconds pass and the weight quickly shifts again. Yamaguchi stands again and walks towards Kei’s door. Kei’s heart twists in his chest as Yamaguchi mutters out a “bye, Tsukki.”

And he leaves. And Kei’s alone.

Kei returns to school quiet and closed off. He’s never been the most social person in the world, but his words are slowly replaced with jabs and insults. He hears the girls in his grade gossip about how mean he’s become. They make up wild stories; one’s that Kei rolls his eyes at. Even his friends, who he drifts farther and farther from, are left wondering what had gone wrong. He feels alone: how can he trust anyone when the person he looked up to most had been lying to him?  
Still, there’s Yamaguchi, who sticks by his side like nothing has changed. Yamaguchi is not immune to Kei’s insults by any means — Kei’s not scared of hurting his feelings — but Yamaguchi is unrelenting and is a better friend than Kei knows he deserves. Yamaguchi is sweet and kind and of all people for him to want to be friends with, why Kei?

Kei is apprehensive about joining the Karasuno volleyball team. He likes volleyball, but the thought of playing in the black and orange that he had always pictured his brother playing in leaves a bad taste in his mouth. Still, he and Yamaguchi join the club a couple days into the school year. From the moment Kei meets the hot-blooded duo that is Hinata and Kageyama, he’s tossing around insults that rile the two up. When Kei and Yamaguchi team up with Daichi to play the duo and Tanaka, Kei’s attention is on the two unfamiliar first years. He’s not unaware of the uneasy look on Yamaguchi’s face, though.

The two middle school friends quickly fall into a rhythm as high schoolers; go to school, go to volleyball practice, then walk home together. Kei finds himself settled into a spot on the starting rotation as a middle blocker, while Yamaguchi falls into a spot on the bench. Yamaguchi’s usually open with his feelings, but Kei finds that he’s unusually quiet about his role on the team. Kei doesn’t push it.  
Kei won’t admit it, but he’s distracted for a couple points after Yamaguchi leaves the court on the verge of tears during Karasuno’s game against Aobajohsai. Kei knows that Yamaguchi has been working relentlessly to perfect his jump serve, and he can see the boy replaying the view of the ball hitting the net repeatedly in his head. Kei knows he shouldn’t let it get to him.

He’s speechless for the first time, Kei thinks, as Yamaguchi’s in his face with his hands bunched up in Kei’s shirt. In his mind, Kei can still see the small, shy boy he had saved from bullies years ago. But here he is, all grown up and, wow, Tadashi is cool. He’s able to have a positive outlook on volleyball when Kei himself can’t. It’s admirable.

Later, when the others have long been asleep, Kei wonders when his heart started racing when Yamaguchi comes close.

The end of the Interhigh tournament blurs with the beginning of the spring tournament and Yamaguchi steps on the court against Aobajohsai once again. Kei doesn’t need to use his eyes to know that Yamaguchi is nervous, and he’s silently hoping that Yamaguchi will make his serve over.

And he does. It takes everything in Kei to stop the wide smile that threatens to spread across his face. Yamaguchi looks at him with wide eyes and Kei can only feel pride and love. Yeah, that’s probably a good word for it. Kei loves his best friend.

Kei doesn’t make even a fraction of an attempt to hide his smile as Oikawa scrambles to receive a touch off of Kindaichi’s block and he misses and they’ve won. He vaguely hears a comment like “Tsukishima’s actually smiling!” but it doesn’t matter because Kei’s eyes are on Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi’s looking back at him with the cutest smile on his face and Kei wants to kiss him right then and there.

Later that day, the two walk home together. Kei feels sluggish and his feet hurt from playing 5 set of volleyball but it’s worth it. Yamaguchi brushes up against Kei’s arm every couple of steps, a reminder he’s still there. They reach Kei’s house first — it’s closer to Karasuno than Yamaguchi’s — and Kei pauses at on the sidewalk. Yamaguchi follows suit, turning to face him.

Yamaguchi is the first to speak. “You were great today, Tsukki.”

Kei cocks an eyebrow. “You wanna know who was really great? You. You were great.”

“What?” Yamaguchi immediately flushes red. “No, I-- I just served, you played almost the whole game, y-”

“Tadashi.” The name falls from Kei’s mouth faster than he can stop it. “You’re amazing.”

All too suddenly Tadashi is way too close and Kei can feel Tadashi’s breath against his lips and Tadashi definitely isn’t backing away. In fact, he moves closer, closing the gap between them. Tadashi’s lips are cold and chapped but Kei doesn’t care. His heart is racing and his head is spinning and Tadashi actually just kissed me.

Tadashi is quiet as he searches for something, anything that resembles a response to that. He looks terrified. Kei just looks down at him before leaning down to press his forehead against Tadashi’s.

“You are the most amazing person I have ever met.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! come talk to me on tumblr @ifitswiththisperson :)


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